How Much Sugar Are We Eating?

Facts About Sugar Intake

Intakes of Added Sugars in the United States

For the past 20 years, added sugars consumption has been on a significant decline in the United States.1-4

Added sugars intake can be presented in teaspoons (tsp), grams (g), calories (kcals) or % of total calories. The 2015 Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends daily intake of added sugars make up no more than 10% of total calories. In a 2,000 calorie diet, this translates to: 12 tsp, 50 g, 200 kcals, 10% of total calories.

Honing in on the past 15 years, people of all ages have been consuming less added sugars with mean intakes down by almost 25% (from 21 to 16.1 teaspoons equivalents per day).4,7

Percent of Calories from Added Sugars1, 7, 8

Year

% of Calories from Added Sugars

1999-2000

18.1

2001-2002

17.1

2003-2004

15.9

2005-2006

14.5

2007-2008

14.6

2009-2010

13.9

2011-2012

14.1

2013-2014

13.4

2015-2016

12.6

Added sugars consumption in 2015–2016 is reported to be about 13% of total calories, or around 270 calories per day.7,8 This is still slightly above the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, as the 2015–2020 recommendations suggest no more than 10% of calories from added sugars per day.6

What We Eat in America (WWEIA) captures U.S. dietary intakes as a part of National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). This survey is conducted every two years in partnership with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Health and Human Services (HHS) to assess the health and nutritional status of Americans.9

Total added sugars intake is on the decline, but how much actual sugar (or sucrose) are we consuming?

Dietary data are frequently reported as total added sugars, a combination of the intakes of all caloric sweeteners: sugar, high-fructose corn syrup, honey, maple syrup, etc. But, if we look at just sugar intake, the story is a little different. From 1970 to 2014, consumption of sugar (sucrose) from sugar beets and sugar cane has decreased by about 30%, a drop from 283 calories (17.7 tsp) per day to 192.2 calories (12 tsp) per day.5

While added sugars consumption increased sharply in the 90’s, intakes today have come back down and are very close to what they were in 1970. Compared to 1970, daily added sugars consumption has increased by fewer than 30 calories.5

Going way back

The USDA has been collecting food supply data for a long time! Looking back over 100 years, sugars and sweeteners made up 11.9% of all calories in the food supply in 1909. Over the past century there have been some ebbs and flows in this percentage, the highest being 18.2% in 1997-1999. However, since the turn of the century, the percentage of calories from sugars and sweeteners has dropped steadily. It is important to note that total calorie intake has come up since 1909, but as a percentage of total calories, total sugars and sweeteners consumption is on the decline.10

National Data Sets

Did you know that the USDA has been monitoring food supply data since 1909? This extensive history shapes our insights on dietary trends and Americans’ food intake.